I would just add that, just as I thought improving the rotation could make the bullpen better, I also believe improving the defense should make the pitching better (or at least won’t make it look as bad as last year).

It really is a crapshoot this season, so “luck” is very much in play.

]]>By: birdofpreyhttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11902
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:23:36 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11902What I often wonder is just how much the professional evaluators (Twins) view these bullpen arms as commodity-like. Maybe they believe that Oliveros, Burton, Doyle, Zumaya, Gutierrez, Manship, Waldrop, Burnett….etc. are every bit as likely as Wheeler, Coffey, Lidge, Rauch, ….etc. are to be productive in 2012. And hell, if you’re wrong, go grab Slama, Guerra, Diamond, DeVries, Robertson, from your own system or one of the dozen or so pitchers each of the other 31 teams demoted at the end of spring training.
]]>By: birdofpreyhttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11901
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:08:47 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11901Yeah, it’s all just a game to Terry Ryan. A $500M game using Jimmy, Billy, and Bobby’s play money.
]]>By: frightwighttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11900
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:04:32 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11900I can give TR a pass on the rotation. If Baker and Liriano are healthy and pitch like they can all year, the rotation will be better. And to do a big rotation overhaul this winter would have been costly and required selling low on the club assets, and probably eating some salary on anybody TR traded. Might as well see if your guys can bounce back, and either help the team contend or at least fetch better value on the trade market this summer.

But, as a number of people have pointed out, the FA market was loaded with quality veteran relievers, which meant they were available for CHEAP. Ryan could have fit at least ONE into his $100 million budget, too. Why is he content just to roll the dice on Zumaya and then flood Ft. Myers with NRI’s?

]]>By: Jim Hhttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11899
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:57:47 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11899Yeah, I appreciated the humor as well. It is well that you don’t take too many things too seriously. I think you could call Ryan’ s plan(and he has one) “The buy time for the future Plan” . Everything he did this winter could be interperted that way. Older players who know how to play at both the major league and minor league level. It looks like he wants to get his true prospects playing at the level they should be, and playing with guys who know how to play the game. He doesn’t want to give his prospects “social promotions” but make them earn it. It also looks like he wants more competition for playing time at every level.

Or maybe he is just guessing.
and fooling around.

]]>By: Jim Crikkethttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11896
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:19:20 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11896I’m glad you recognized the sarcasm, Jim… hopefully you and others also recognize the attempt at humor. I’ve learned not to take the Twins, their front office, their players, their manager and coaching staff, or myself, too seriously these days.

And while the Jason Marquis signing didn’t excite the masses (or me) when it occurred, I am trying to hold out some hope that he could be a second “innings eater” in the rotation and give whoever does end up in the bullpen a few more games where they aren’t constantly up and down warming up all game.

TT, I certainly didn’t intend for the guys I listed to have been an exhaustive list of pitchers who trotted out to the Hammond Stadium mound last March, but thank you for filling in a few more names. Hopefully, the Twins will see more good luck and less bad luck in 2012.

Luck is always part of any strategy in baseball. Both avoiding bad luck and having some good luck. The Twins last year had a lot of bad luck and not much good luck. And the bullpen was no exception. Virtually every guy they were counting on either spent time on the DL or struggled with injuries.

]]>By: Jim Hhttp://knuckleballsblog.com/2012/02/15/terry-ryan-maybe-well-get-lucky/#comment-11894
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:55:19 +0000http://knuckleballsblog.com/?p=10829#comment-11894I appreciate the sarcasm in this post. I do think it is a legitimate plan as far as the bullpen goes. I too, wondered about trying to look at 33 candidates. It is probably kind of reassuring that they have narrowed the field to 9 or 10. You can probably give that many a good look and let the rest prove themselves at AAA. I also think that a lot these guys, maybe even some of Twins prospects/suspects will get released fairly early during spring training.

I had wished that the Twins would acquire a solid starter this off season. Quite likely they didn’t want to overpay for one, with all the other questions about this team. Maybe they have held back enough money to go after one if that looks like it could actually give them a chance at the post season, sometime during the season.